Electron tube socket



Nov. 8, 1955 R. A. LANG 2,723,384

ELECTRON TUBE SOCKET Filed May 10, 1951 I Invent or:

Robert A. Lang),

His Attorneg.

United States Patent p ELECTRON TUBE SOCKET Robert A. Lang, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application May 10, 1951, Serial No. 225,633

2 Claims. (Cl. 339--194) My invention relates to sockets for supporting electron tubes and more particularly to such sockets in which the lead-connecting terminals extend through and project above the upper surface of the tube socket, i. e., the surface through which the radio tube pins are inserted.

Radio tube sockets-in prior art arrangements generally comprised an insulating body having'positioned therein contact members or elements. Each of these members included a socket portion adapted to receive the tube prongs or pins and a lead-connecting terminal portion which extended downwardly from the lower surface of the tube socket.- It was to these terminal portions that p in which all the lead wires may be simultaneously soldered 1 to the contact elements of the socket thus insuring an efiicient and uniform soldering operation. A manufactun ing technique for simultaneously soldering a number of terminals has heretofore been developed. In this technique the terminals and lead wires to be soldered are dipped into a molten bath of solder. soldering.

It is therefore a primary object of my invention to provide a new and improved radio tube socket which is adapted to pot-soldering techniques.

This is called pot- It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved radio socket in which the lead-connecting terminal members project substantially above the upper surface of the tube socket.

For additional objects and advantages and for a better understanding of my invention, attention is now directed to the following description and accompanying drawings. The features of my invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my improved radio tube socket in which a portion has been cut away so as to show more clearly the location and configuration of the contact members.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view, partly in section, taken along lines X-X' of the socket shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the contact member shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown an improved tube socket 1 which is adapted for use in radio and television chassis assembled and soldered in part by pots oldering techniques. The tube socket 1 comprises an insulating member 2 which in my preferred embodiment comprises two superposed insulating plate members 3 and 4 (shown better in Fig. 2). It will be evident that instead of the two insulating plates a single molded plastic 2,723,384 Patented Nov. 8, 1955 2. body membermight'well be employed. While the'eir ternal configuration of the tube socket i's'n ot controlling, I have shown one whichis essentially diamond-shaped and includes apertures 5 and 6 through which suitable means such as rivets may be inserted for securing the tube socket to a suitable radio chassis.

An inner ring of apertures 7 extending through the upper plate 3 and opening on the upper surface 8' thereof is provided for the reception of the pins of aradio tube. Each of these apertures 7 is slightly larger in diameter than that of the tube pin. The number and positions of the apertures 7 in this innerring correspond to the numher and positions of the tube pins to be received: therein.

The two superposed insulating plates 3 and 4 are secured together by means of the centrally disposed com bination rivet and grounding lug 9. It will be" of course understood that these plates might well be fastened together by suitable eyelets passing through the mounting apertures 5 and 6. The combination rivet and grounding lug 9 is provided with a lead-admitting aperture 10.

A plurality of contact members 11 are positioned within the body member 2 to complete the electrical connec tion between the tube pins and the desired circuit leads. As seen in Fig. 2, a tube pin receiving portion 12 of the contact member 11 is positioned below the aperture 7 in the upper plate 3 and within an aperture 27 in the lower plate 4. The contact member 11 also comprises a leadconnecting terminal portion 13 connected to the pinreceiving portion 12 by means of a flat web portion 14. It should be noted that the interconnecting web portion 14 lies between the superposed insulating plates 3 and 4. The pin-receiving portion 12 then is positioned within the aperture 27 of the insulating plate 4 and is further posit'ioned, throughout the' w'eb portion 14, above the upper surface 25 of the insulating plate 4. The tubular leadreceiving portion 13 is entirely above this upper surface 25. r

The lead-connecting terminal portions 13 project above the upper surface 8 of the body member 2' through suit able apertures 15 provided in the body member 2. Each aperture 15 extends through the upper insulating plate 3 and is in radial alignment with the corresponding inner Y aperture 7. These apertures 15 form an outer ring con centric with the inner ring of apertures 7.

There is provided an opening 16 in the lower surface 17 of the body member 2 which extends through the" lower plate 4 and is in registry with the aperture 15 in the upper plate 3. It is through this aperture 16 that suitable circuit leads pass to be soldered to the lead connecting portion 13. Aperture 15 is larger than the tubular portion 13. Opening 16 is of smaller diameter than that of the tubular portion 13 positioned above it.

As seen in Fig. 1, a portion of the upper surface 8 of the body member 2 including the upper plate 3 has been cut away along the line 18 so as to show the relative positioning of the contact members 11 within the body member 2, and further to illustrate how the contact members 11 are positioned on the upper surface 25 of insulating plate 4.

In some applications it may be desirable to omit the upper insulating plate 3, in which case the contact members 11 may be secured to the upper surface 25 of the insulating plate 4 by any suitable means. For example. rivets may be inserted in the apertures 26 in the web portion 14. It will be evident that when glass base tubes are employed, there is no need for insulation directly above the inner ring of apertures 7.

The contact member 11 described generally above is best shown in Fig. 3. The pin-receiving portion 12 is tubular in shape and includes the beveled jaws 28 which are adapted to grasp a tube pin. The cintact member 11 is a metal stamping and for ease in manufacture the tubular portion 12 is split at 19. This pin-receiving portion 12 is integrally connected to and depends from the horizontal web portion 14. The other end of the web portion 14 is integrally connected to the upstanding leadconnecting portion 13 which is also tubular in nature. This portion 13 includes an open-ended conical portion 20 having a plurality of axial slots 21. This slotted cone portion acts to secure the lead wires within the tubular lead connecting terminal before the final soldering operation is undertaken.

I have found that in many applications it is not necessary to employ the conical portion 20 and that a simple pin-type hollow or tubular terminal having an open end is satisfactory.

The tubular lead-connecting portion 13 also includes at the outer periphery thereof locating and securing means comprising the two tabs 22 which serve to anchor that portion within the body member. The tubular leadconnecting portion 13 is split in a manner similar to that described in connection with the pin-receiving portion 19. This can best be seen as the slit 23 shown in Fig. 1.

The tube socket when completely assembled is secured to a suitable radio chassis by any suitable means. The circuit leads to be connected to the tube socket are positionedwithin the tubular lead-connecting portions 13. The tube socket and chassis may be then inverted and passed through a molten bath of solder in which only the projecting lead-connecting portions 13 are immersed. The liquid solder may then flow through the slots 21 and the openings 24 provided at the ends of the terminal members 13, thus insuring a uniformly soldered joint between those members and the interpositioned circuit leads.

In many installations, I have found it desirable to position a circular channel-shaped shielding member over the outer ring of lead-connecting terminal members 13 so that they can not be subjected to accidental body contact during operation of circuits in which the socket is connected.

With my improved tube socket, the lead terminal members project above the chassis, thus enabling voltage and other measurements to be made at the tube socket while the radio tube is in operating position.

It will thus be apparent that I have provided an improved tube socket which has particular application in the manufacture and assembling of radio receivers in which pot-soldering techniques are employed, whereby the lead connections to the terminal members of the radio tube socket may be simultaneously and uniformly soldered in one operation. This is structurally accomplished by bringing the lead-connecting terminal members out through and above the upper surface of the tube socket.

While a specific embodiment of my invention has been shown and described and certain modifications have been suggested, it will of course be understood that various other modifications may be made without departure from the principles of the invention. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover any such modifications within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A tube socket comprising an insulating body memher having an upper and a lower surface, a plurality of integral contact members positioned therein, apertures in said upper surface, each of said contact members comprising a pin-receiving portion of tubular configuration terminating in beveled jaws at one end thereof engageable through one of said apertures in said upper surface and positioned below it, apertures in said lower surface and a tubular lead-connecting portion engageable through said apertures in said lower surface and projecting through said upper surface, said tubular lead-connetcing portion being adapted to have secured therein by pot-soldering a lead engaged through said lower surface and a web portion connecting said pin-receiving portion and said lead connecting portion.

2. A tube socket comprising an insulating body memher having an upper and lower surface, a plurality of integral contact members positioned therein, apertures in said upper surface, each of said contact members having at one end a first tubular pin-receiving portion having beveled jaws at one end thereof engageable through said apertures in said upper surface and positioned below it, apertures in said lower surface and a second tubular lead-connecting portion aligned with and engageable through said apertures in said lower surface and projecting through and above said upper surface, said tubular lead-connecting portion having a conical section provided with axial slots therein so as to be adapted to have secured therein by pot-soldering a lead engaged through said aperture in said lower surface, and a web portion connecting said first tubular portion with said second tubular portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,702,234 Goodridge Feb. 12, 1929 1,774,646 Goudy Sept. 2, 1930 2,066,876 Carpenter Jan. 5, 1937 2,486,115 Chiuchiolo Oct. 25, 1949 2,502,291 Taylor Mar. 28, 1950 2,563,775 Del Camp Aug. 7, 1951 2,593,479 Nieter Apr. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 726,159 France Feb. 23, 1932 

